The Vox Stroller was one of the simplest guitars Vox produced; a slab body, bolt-on neck, just one pickup, with a volume and tone control, a very simple wooden floating bridge and a coaxial input rather than a standard guitar jack.

But at just 2kg, surely one of the lightest guitars ever produced; perfect for the student guitarist of the early 1960s.

The single cutaway body style was shared with the earliest version of the Vox Shadow; both were based on the Guyatone / Antoria LG50, as played by Shadows guitarist Hank Marvin at the very beginning of the decade. The Shadows were probably the biggest guitar act in the UK, pre-Beatles, and they were certainly highly influential to a whole generation of up-and-coming guitarists. Vox certainly made the most of their endorsement, and when Hank Marvin moved over to the Fender Stratocaster, Vox followed suit, redesigning the Stroller and Shadow to a more Fenderesque double cutaway shape.

Vox experimented with a lot of different guitar models in the early part of the 1960s, and like many, the Guyatone-style single cutaway Stroller was short-lived; by the middle of 1963 they were no longer in the Vox range.

This Vox Stroller has just one single-coil Vox V1 pickup - note the engraved Vox logo

The Vox Stroller has one tone and one volume control

The Vox Stroller had a very simple floating wooden bridge.

The very simple pressed-metal tailpiece is held to the body with six screws

The coaxial input is on the side of the guitar. Later these would be mounted on the scratchplate.

This Vox Stroller has no neck plate, unlike later models.

Vox Stroller headstock.

Reverse headstock - the serial number is stamped next to the tuning gears

Decal of the "Stroller" model name, in the green scripted font of the early 1960s

Similar Models

The body itself is a very simple slab with no bevels or unecessary detail. The pickup route will accept a one or two pickup (Vox Shadow) scratchplate. All components simply screw into place. Vox did use laminate wood bodies, especially on their cheapest guitars - as is the case here; see the close up of the neck pocket below - but many also had solid wood (typically mahogany or agba).

Under the scratchplate of the Vox Stroller - just two potentiometers and a capacitor

The body route was the same for the one-pickup Stroller or the two-pickup Shadow

The very simple circuitry of the Vox Stroller

Vox Stroller neck pocket detail

The body of this guitar is made of laminations of different woods - this can be clearly seen in the unfinished neck pocket area

Mack the Cat Comment left 3rd August 2012 10:10:33My first guitar! Well not mine, my bro's, but I started out on it when he got a real Telecaster a little later. It was old and battered even when he got it, but fine for learning the basics, very easy to play as I recall. I never knew anything about it, so good to read your page. I had many a happy hour with that guitar. I wonder, he may still have it.

Adrian P. Comment left 10th February 2013 19:07:19how do you date these UK Vox guitars please? Does the serial number tell you anything?